In this conversation, Beverly Sheel is updating Ross Trela on her investigation. She has uncovered a payment of $20,000 to a consulting firm that is controlled by the family of a government official, and as such, the payment may be perceived as a bribe for building permits in LDC's Asian operations.

Respond to the following questions ensuring you provide examples and concepts from our lessons.

1) Comment on the components of the fraud triangle that led to these events: (a) The operations manager in Asia was delayed in opening on time, so he opted to make a facilitation payment (a bribe). (b) The information in the email and the email attachment uncovered during the bribery investigation suggests that some of the accounting estimates were questionable and could result in a restatement of the financial statements filed with the SEC.

2) Why did Sheel wait three months to bring the email to the attention of her boss?

3) Why didn't the internal controls catch the bribery payment? What procedures could LDC put in place to detect this kind of payment?

4) What is the significance of the information in the emailthat Sheel is now bringing to Trela's attention? What about the information contained in the attachment marked "For Accounting Eyes Only"?